Rey (Island Journey) - TVC - Basic (VC122) (Exclusive)

Celebrate the legacy of Star Wars, the action-and-adventure-packed space saga from a galaxy far, far away, with this collection of premium, highly-detailed 3.75-inch scale figures and vehicles. (Each sold sepaartely. Subject to availability.)

We've got good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that Hasbro is pushing another Rey action figure on us. It’s especially painful because The Vintage Collection has so few slots and we don’t feel they should waste their time with Sequel Trilogy figures, especially not in the beginning. The good news is that aside from one major issue, she’s the perfect super-articulated figure that we expect to get from Hasbro now. The Vintage Collection’s Rey (Island Journey) (VC122) figure is a Walmart exclusive release. On paper, this figure is a collector’s dream come true. She’s loaded with 28 points of articulation including a premium reverse ball-socket neck and ball-socket head combination which allows for optimal head movement. The goodness doesn’t end there, however. Hasbro gave her swivel thighs and ball-jointed hips. These premium points of articulation allow for a wide range of movement and help the figure achieve awesome action poses. The standard ball-jointed articulation in the arms and legs help to aid the figure in achieving infinite poses. Hasbro did a fantastic job at recreating her silhouette. This looks like Rey, and the scale looks pretty good too. So, what could be wrong with a figure that appears to have so much going for it? Well, it’s a major issue, so let us explain.

Rey (Island Journey) looks terrible. But before we explain why, she is significantly better than 2017's TVC Rey (Jakku) (VC116) figure. The reason this Rey (Island Journey) figure is terrible is that her paint operations. Hasbro has been upfront with 3.75” super-articulated collectors. They CANNOT employ “photorealistic” technology on the 3.75” action figures (right now). They’re looking into a way to do this for us. But the likeness on Rey (Island Journey) is terrible. Her facial features look Asian (not that there’s anything wrong with that). This doesn’t look like Daisy Ridley at all (in the face). Thankfully, the rest of the figure looks perfectly like Rey. This figure is nice because it kills two birds with one stone. Hasbro has nicely layered this figure so you can create iterations of her costume that are specific to Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens as well as Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Sadly, she doesn’t come with all of the required accessories to complete her. Hasbro made a glaring error here by omitting her signature staff. We feel that is a major loss here. You do, however, get the blaster pistol she inherited from Han Solo, a removable soft-goods cloak, and Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber. (Are they ever going to explain how that ended up on Takodana?)

It may be wise that Hasbro relegated Rey (Island Journey) as a Walmart exclusive. She’ll be packed in solid cases and, there should be enough to go around in time. It’s likely that many of us will never see this figure in our local brick and mortar Walmart stores, but all of us should have a stab at her online. For $12.99 you do get a great deal of plastic/accessories to accompany this action figure. Sure, it has its set of problems, but Rey (Island Journey) also has a lot going for it too. The biggest issue is that we’re not getting enough new figures at once. The premium action figures are leaking out in dribs and drabs. We need two cases of all new figures based on the Sequel Trilogy so that we can reenact scenes from those films. Right now we have the periodic super-articulated figure with which we have to display with 5POA figures. This does n’t always work. No matter how you feel about Rey’s paint job, it’s exciting to get another all-new figure in The Vintage Collection. This might be sad to hear, but it’s more exciting to get bad-looking super-articulated action figures than none at all. The revival of The Vintage Collection is a huge deal for Star Wars fans. If you can get past the deco on this figure, Hasbro has tooled a little masterpiece here.